Georgia News Digest 12-19-06

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

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by Ph.D. Jonathan Kulick, Director of Studies

1. monograph: The NATO-Russia Partnership: A Marriage Of Convenience Or A Troubled Relationship?
Stephen J. BlankStrategic Studies Institute (U.S. Army)monograph at www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pubs/display.cfm?PubID=734 Four years after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-Russia Council came into being, it represents a picture in ambivalence and incomplete realization of partnership. This monograph focuses on the Russian side of this growing estrangement. It finds the Russian roots of this ambivalence in the increasingly visible manifestations of an autocratic and neo-imperial Russian state and foreign and defense policy. These strong trends in Russian policy inhibit the formation of a genuine security partnership that can provide for Eurasian security in the face of multiple contemporary threats.It is debatable whether Russia really wants a comprehensive partnership with NATO. Its military-political elite still views NATO and the United States in adversarial terms, even though its leadership speaks positively about the value of this partnership. Recent U.S. military initiatives like missile defense or the wars in Kosovo and Iraq are leading Russia to entertain thoughts of withdrawing from many of the existing European arms control treaties. Another cause of estrangement is to be found in that, as Russia regenerates its autocratic imperial model of state building, it aspires to the goal of a free hand in creating an exclusive Eurasian security bloc from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. This effort is incompatible, not only with the democratic choice of many of those peoples, but also with European security as a whole. We can see this, for example, in Moscow’s refusal to evacuate the Trans-Dniestrian territory it effectively has annexed from Moldova and its demands for a 20-year base there. Another example is Russia’s attempt to block Ukrainian and Georgian efforts to join NATO at some point. Thus the tendency to demand a free hand in creating a kind of exclusive bloc in Eurasia, buttressed by an approach to security which still remains mired in zero-sum categories, precludes Russia’s effective integration with NATO and the maximum benefit that could accrue to it from partnership with NATO.
2. thesis: Violent Non-State Actors in World Politics: Their Formation, Actions, and Effects
3. paper: “The sustainability and future of unrecognized quasi-states”
4. paper: “Market-based health care reforms in Central and Eastern Europe: lessons after ten years of change”
5. Why is Nino Burjanadze being blocked by Russian media?
6. New U.S. Black Sea policy urged
7. Georgia FM gives briefing on Georgia-RF relations in Tbilisi
8. Sergey Lavrov: Georgia tries to mask internal problems
9. Russian Federal Migration Service denies cause of Togonidze’s death
10. Germany Airlifts 730lbs Enriched Uranium to Russia
11. CoE Commission Concerned over Georgians Treatment in Russia
12. Georgia Got Rid Of Russian Servicemen
13. No deal yet in Georgia-Turkey-Azerbaijan talks on Caspian gas quotas
14. Georgia Claims Energy Crisis “Over,” But Deal With Iran Undefined
15. Natural gas from Shah-Deniz delayed to Georgia until December 20
16. Armenia was left without gas after accident at main gas pipeline in Georgia
17. Amid Concerns Over Georgias Gas Supply, Saakashvili To Visit Turkey
18. Separatist MPs meet in Moscow
19. Secessionists MPs Call for International Recognition
20. Interparliamentary Assembly of Commonwealth for Democracy and Rights of Nations meets
21. Abkhazia, Transdnestr and South Ossetia prepare statement concerning “crimes against humanity”
22. Tbilisi suggests broad autonomy to Abkhazia, S Ossetia—FM
23. “Abkhazeti” Is Indignant With “Rustavi-2” Television News Report On Referendum In Nagorni Karabakh
24. Georgian foreign minister calls on separatists to forge ties with Tbilisi
25. Head Of Foreign Ministry Of Spain To Discuss In Moscow Issues Of “Frozen Conflicts” On CIS territory
26. Abkhaz separatist official speaks of imminent Georgian “provocation”
27. Former Georgian guerrilla leader faces drugs charges
28. Estonia ready to send peacekeepers to Georgia’s Abkhazia if format changes
29. Abkhazians call for peace at 5th Congress in Sokhumi
30. South Ossetia conflict commission to meet on 27 December
31. Mikhail Saakashvili: Georgia-Azerbaijan border less dangerous
32. Georgia and WB sign agreement on project for USD 19 million
33. Estonian Formin Confirms Wish To Continue Development Cooperation With Georgia
34. The statement of Georgian Patriarchy regarding the “Broadcasting Code of Conduct”
35. George Bokeria proposes to postpone adoption of “Broadcasting Code of Conduct” until February 2007
36. “Union of Orthodox Parents” protests against adoption of “Broadcasting Code of Conduct”
37. From January 1 print media will have no more tax breaks
38. Majority believe that the level of media freedom is not so high in Georgia
39. Ombudsman hands material concerning the insult of newspaper editor to General Prosecutor’s Office
40. Georgian opposition party attacks communications commission chief
41. Authorities Accused of Property Rights Abuse
42. Cabinet shuffling for three years of the Georgian Rose Revolution
43. UN expert calls for adoption and implementation of Georgian national strategy for IDPs
44. Georgian president praises ties with Israel during Hanukkah celebrations
45. Georgian Jews participate in Hanukkah ceremonies with 10-ton menorah
46. Last Georgian citizen injured in accident in Turkey return to Georgia
47. Let the commercialization of New Year’s begin
48. A five star folly [letter]
49. Speaker of parliament supports drafting a new constitution
50. New opposition party aspires to take control in 2008
51. New Year’s tree for GEL 140 000
52. Armenian Hytex Plastic And Coca Cola Bottler’s Georgia Sign Cooperation Memorandum
53. Manavi 12 Reaches Total Depth
54. Chinese air companies to enter Georgian air space soon
55. Borjomi bottle boasts new look
56. Georgian winemakers learn about US market
57. Russian embargo halved Borjomi production
58. Georgian wine export increased slightly in October
59. Georgia to import wheat from Ukraine, Kazakhstan and US
60. Armavia Airline Opens New Regular Flight Yerevan-Tbilisi-Yerevan

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Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic), jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814